


Nothing According To Plan

by afteriwake



Series: What Happens In The Aftermath [3]
Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-08
Updated: 2015-03-08
Packaged: 2018-03-16 21:05:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,039
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3502739
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afteriwake/pseuds/afteriwake
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Molly had expected to feel quite nervous, finally going out on a date with Sherlock and all after all that had happened, but even though nothing goes the way they'd planned it their first date goes relatively smoothly.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Nothing According To Plan

**Author's Note:**

> My 300th Sherlock fanfic! I am so happy to have reached this milestone. I've enjoyed being a part of this fandom so much, and it's been a pleasure to write fanfic for these characters. This particular story was written for day 5 of Sherlolly Appreciation Week, with a Sherlolly story that had its emphasis on Molly.

She was surprised at how calm she was with this. She'd have thought she'd be a nervous wreck at the thought of going on a date with Sherlock Holmes. Even now, even with the fact that they were friends and she trusted him far more than she had ever thought she would, she would have expected the butterflies in her stomach from their first interactions to return. She would have expected nervous giggles and a few moments where she had to pinch herself to prove that it was really true, that they were really going on a date. But there was none of that. There was utter calm, and that was a nice surprise after everything.

She didn't want to think back to Arthur, not today, and she'd made sure a date with Sherlock was as different as a date with him as possible. Arthur had always insisted on picking her up, on making the grand gesture, on making every detail perfect. She'd been swept off her feet and he'd kept her so dazzled that she didn't question all the tiny things that didn't make sense. And then it had all changed in a heartbeat. Her heart had broken when he slugged her across the face to knock her out; the fond feelings she'd had for him evaporated completely when he kept hurting her, and by the time she'd lost consciousness she'd had a gaping hole inside her she was sure would never be filled. The very idea of letting someone close made her skin crawl, made her nauseated, made her want to curl up in a ball and spurn the world. But she was willing to let Sherlock close. She wasn't sure how close today, but she'd see.

They had decided on a film and then dinner somewhere. There wasn't a whole lot in the cinemas that she thought he'd be interested but there was a historical drama he'd said he could probably tolerate. They usually weren't her favorite types of movies but this one had intrigued her. It was all going to be a very low key date, where they would meet there and watch the film and share a meal and then go their separate ways. No pressure, really. No expectations, at least on her part. Just the chance to spend company with someone she cared about.

It was warm enough that she could get away with wearing a nice dress and a light coat. It was nice wanting to dress up; she hadn't bothered much the last few months. She knew a lot of that had to do with the fact she was still depressed, though that was slowly getting better, and then there was also that she hadn't wanted anyone to notice her. She didn't want to stand out in any way or draw any attention to her. She had felt her life would be easier if she blended into the background, which had been easier said than done with the hoopla surrounding the entire matter. But things had died down considerably, which she was grateful for, and today was a somewhat special occasion, she decided. She got out of the cab and saw Sherlock standing there, a flower in hand. Not a whole bouquet of roses or an assortment of flowers, just a single rose. She smiled when she got closer and saw it was two different colors, a dark red at the tips and white underneath. “It's called an Osiria rose,” he said, handing it to her. “I thought I would get you something unique.”

“Oh, it's stunning,” she said, lifting it up to smell it. “But you didn't need to get me something.”

“It was recommended I have flowers, but I remembered you used to get them a lot,” he said quietly. “I felt you deserved something, though, so I settled on just one of something unique.” She looked up at him and saw he looked slightly uncertain. “Was that all right?”

“It was a very nice gesture,” she said, her smile widening. “Thank you.”

He relaxed a bit at that. “Good. Shall we go see the film now?”

She nodded. “That would be lovely.” They made their way to the ticket booth and looked, and she frowned. The times they had listed didn't match the times that had been on the website the evening before. “It appears it will be a few hours until the film starts,” she said with a frown.

“I suppose we forgot to change days when we looked up the times,” he said. “Do we want to see the later showing?”

“All right. We can go eat first. We didn't have reservations anywhere, did we?” she asked, turning to look at him.

He shook his head. “I had thought about it, but decided against it.”

“Then let's see what there is around here to eat. What are you in the mood for?”

“I'm not sure,” he said. “I've gotten rather tired of Asian cuisine, and Indian as well.”

“I think there's Persian and Moroccan and Greek and Italian in the area. Maybe more.” She looked down the street and then turned back to him. “Should we just walk around and see what smells best?”

“That's usually not the best way to pick a restaurant,” he said with a slight frown. She must have looked disappointed because he took a step forward. “Though I suppose it couldn't hurt today.”

“Excellent!” she said with a smile. She stepped close to him. “Just don't walk so quickly that I have to hurry to keep up.”

“I'll try my best,” he said. They began to walk on the pavement, stopping for a bit outside each restaurant they passed. A few times Molly would point to a restaurant on the other side of the street that might be appealing, and they would cross over. But for one reason or another none of the restaurants seemed to be a place they wanted to eat at. Finally he looked over at her. “I had a thought.”

“Yes?” she asked.

“We should ask for advice,” he said, pulling out his mobile. “Lestrade has recently begun seeing someone and they go out quite frequently. I'll see if there are restaurants in this area he would recommend.” He pulled up Lestrade's contact on his phone and then called him, chatting for a few minutes. From Sherlock's end of the conversation she gathered Greg might actually have been in the middle of a date himself. Finally Sherlock hung up. “He recommended a Middle Eastern restaurant, Manoush Cuisine. It's best if we take a taxi, though. He didn't know the address in correlation to where we were.”

“All right,” she said with a nod. Sherlock moved to the curb, reached over and hailed the two of them a taxi. He opened the door for her and she got in, settling in and buckling her seatbelt while he got in. Once he told the driver where to go he got himself settled and then looked at her. “Is it far?”

“I'm not sure,” he said. “Lestrade said that it was close enough that we could get back in time for our film and still spend a decent amount of time at the restaurant.”

“That's good,” she said.

“I suppose this is not like other dates you've been on,” he said. “Where things don't go according to plan.”

“No, it's happened before,” she said, giving him a reassuring smile. “Not with him, but it happened with Tom quite frequently, as well as others. I'm more used to it than I'm not.”

“I'm glad for that,” he said. “At least now I don't think it will be a disaster.”

She set the rose on her lap and then reached over for his hand. She did so slowly, not entirely sure if he would let her, but after a moment he moved his hand to the seat between them and she grasped it. It didn't feel strange, and she enjoyed the warmth of his fingers curled around hers. She had the feeling she would not mind if he got close, and this pleased her so very much. “Even if absolutely nothing tonight goes the way we want it to, I don't think it will be a disaster. Unless we have a spat I'm willing to try again for a better one later.”

“I'm glad to hear that,” he said, looking down at their hands with a small smile on his face. “I just want to make sure you have an enjoyable evening.”

“Well, this is a good start,” she said, squeezing his hand slightly. 

“Did you not think you'd let me be close?” he asked, looking up at her.

“I wasn't sure. I mean, I know I trust you, and I'm comfortable around you, but I was worried if you actually got close I'd freeze up and push you away, and that would ruin everything.”

“I would have understood,” he said. “After all, I usually shy away from physical contact myself, and I don't have a really good reason for it other than it's bothersome. But I let you close, when you want to be close. If you didn't want to be close tonight that would have been fine.”

“That's a very good thing to know,” she said, her smile getting wider. “I'll keep that in mind.”

“I just don't want you to regret agreeing to have a date with me,” he said. “And the idea of taking things slowly appeals to me because I think one fabricated relationship isn't exactly a lot of experience to rely on.”

“Oh, I don't know,” she said, her tone amused. “You seemed to have done a good enough job convincing her, if John's recollection of the day he found out about it is any indication.”

“Yes, well, actually being in a relationship that isn't part of a larger plot could be different,” he said.

“It could be,” she said. “But if we can make sure we're both on the same page about what we expect with each other I think we'll be fine, and if that means things move slowly then I'm all right with that.”

“That makes me feel much better,” he said. They lapsed into silence then until they got to their destination. Sherlock paid the driver and they got out, and once they were both on the pavement Molly shifted her hold on her rose and reached over for his hand again. He threaded her fingers between his and they made their way into the restaurant. It smelled absolutely wonderful, and she was quite taken with the décor. They were shown to a table and given menus, and they remained quiet as they studied them. She found a few things that sounded appetizing, and when it was time to place her order she got lamb sambosak to start with and momtaz as her main dish. She'd never had either of those but decided to be adventurous. When the menus were gone Sherlock leaned forward slightly. “I will admit, this isn't a bad place.”

“I think it's quite interesting. Hopefully the food is good,” she said. “Though if Greg recommended it I would assume it is.”

“He said if either of us have room left after our meal we should try the baklawa,” he said. 

“Maybe we can split that dessert,” she said. “Was he busy when you called him?”

“Watching a film at home with the woman he's seeing,” he replied. “He was annoyed at first until I explained we were on a date, and then he was rather eager to help. I imagine all of our friends have thought we should go out on a date together, not just John and Mary.”

“I wouldn't be surprised,” she said with a smile. “I think even people who aren't friends with both of us have thought that.”

“Oh?” he asked.

“Sally asked if I wanted to go to the pub with her when she was done for the day and when I told her we were going on a date tonight her response was 'Finally,'” she said. “She also recommended I wear this dress, seeing as how she was there when I bought it.”

“I thought for sure she'd have a far less enthusiastic opinion on our date,” he said with surprise.

“She's seen you've changed and that you aren't as much of an arse. She knows I trust you and she can see for herself you wouldn't purposefully do anything to hurt me. And I think she was worried I'd be alone for the rest of my life, just like Mary was when she spoke to you. The fact I'm actually going out on a date is a cause for celebration. I also think Phillip will be pleased once he finds out.”

“Do I want to know why?” he asked.

“Many of his pet theories on how you faked your death involved you snogging me,” she said. “A lot of the theories involved me helping you, actually, once he got hold of the idea that I knew more than I was saying. He seemed to think our agreement for me to keep your secret was sealed with a kiss.”

“Wonderful,” he murmured.

“I think it's interesting that he thought you'd actually do that, and had been thinking it despite knowing you,” she said with a laugh. “It would have been interesting if it had played out that way.”

“I suppose,” he said. “Would you have started seeing Tom?”

She tilted her head slightly as she thought about it. “Probably not. I think I would have held out for you since I knew eventually you would be back. Or at least I had hoped you would. But if you had kissed me before you left would you have done it again when you got back?”

“Possibly,” he said. “I doubt I would have done it more than once, though, and eventually I could see you ending our friendship because you were tired of not getting more, especially when I moved on to Janine for the trap I was setting.”

“Then I'm glad things worked out the way they did, for the most part,” she said.

“If I had done what I had wanted to do a six months ago things might have turned out very differently,” he said quietly.

“How so?” she asked curiously.

He looked down. “Your last boyfriend made me uneasy towards the end, and I began plotting ways to end your relationship with him. I'm not sure if it was jealousy or just seeing through him, but I wanted him out of your life. If I had interfered he may not have been able to hurt you as badly.”

“Or it could have driven me closer to him,” she said, reaching over for his hand, which was balled up in a fist. “I could have ended our friendship and let him into my life even more than I did. I could have moved in with him, or let him move in with me. And even if you did succeed in ending my relationship with him, there was no guarantee I wouldn't have been taken by him anyway. Jim was very determined to make me pay for my part in everything.” She could see him tense, and she squeezed his hand until he let her hold it. She curled her fingers around his and when she looked up she smiled at him. “Let's talk about something else, all right?”

“All right,” he said with a nod. He began to talk about his newest case, the details she didn't already know, and when they were done with that they went on to one subject that wasn't what had happened last year, followed by another. They stayed in conversation when the appetizers arrived, and it only stopped when they got the main dishes. When they were done with the food she suggested they try the dessert, and then the conversation started up again. Since they were sharing the dessert it didn't take long for them to finish it, and then Sherlock got the check and paid. Once that was taken care of they left the restaurant, and he had just leaned over to hail them a taxi when his mobile began to ring. He answered it, and she assumed it was Lestrade again by the side of the conversation she heard. Sherlock didn't seem to be happy with the conversation, and when he hung up he looked at her. “I'm needed at a crime scene.”

“Ah,” she said. “So no film tonight.”

“I'm afraid not,” he said. “Perhaps tomorrow?”

She shook her head. “I promised Sally I'd go out to the pub with her and tell her all the details,” she said. “But maybe in a few days we can try again.”

“I'm sorry nothing worked out as planned,” he said.

“I'm not,” she said with a smile. “I think this was a splendid date.”

“Let me at least see you home,” he said.

“It's all right. I'm sure Greg wants you at his crime scene as quickly as possible. I can see myself home. “ She moved over to the curb and hailed herself a cab, and one pulled over fairly quickly. Sherlock moved and opened the door for her. “Thank you.”

“You're welcome,” he said.

She hesitated a moment before getting in and then moved in front of him. She had heels on so their normal height difference wasn't quite the same, though there still was one. She leaned in and kissed his cheek softly, giving him a smile when she was done. “I can't wait to see what we do on our next date,” she said as she stepped back. She made her way into the cab and he shut the door behind her, and when she looked at him she saw he actually had a rather large smile on his face. She waved once as the driver pulled away from the curb and once she gave him her address she settled in and brought the rose up to her nose. While it wasn't quite the date they had planned for it was certainly very nice, and that made her hopeful for how things would unfold for them in the future.


End file.
